10.13.2009

Theme: Gone Fishin' — Theme answers are familiar phrases the last words of which relate to fishing.

Good puzzle today. Nothing too exciting, but a solid Tuesday. I personally do not care for fishing. Probably because I can't stand the smell of fish. I like to see fish used as a decoration, but I'd rather not see it on my dinner plate.

Theme answers:

16A: Window treatment support (CURTAIN ROD).

22A: Proceed cautiously (WALK A FINE LINE).

46A: Sports show staple (HIGHLIGHT REEL).

56A: No longer in trouble (OFF THE HOOK).

More:

1A: Magic amulet (MOJO). Love this word. I'm pretty sure the first time I heard it was in Quincy Jones's "The Dude" back in 1981. Good times.

28A: Dynamic start? (AERO-). Here's another one of those tricky clues that you know to take literally by the question mark. Compare to 20A: Prefix with China (INDO-), which tells you straight out that you need a prefix, instead of using the question mark.

38A: "Put your John Hancock on this line" (SIGN HERE). I had a professor in college who used to encourage people to put their "Lucy Stone" on the line.

10D: Giraffe relative (OKAPI). When I saw this in the puzzle I thought I had found my CW101 word for the day, but it turns out we've already covered it.

54D: Vintage Jaguars (XKES). I can never remember this. I always want there to be a J in it.

57D: Toy magnate __ Schwarz (F. A. O.). I used to work at a building that had the flagship F. A. O. Schwarz on the street level. It's the same building where the big Apple Store is now.

Crosswordese 101:Man, are you lucky. Today you're getting a two-fer! Paul ANKA is typically clued as the composer/lyricist/singer of one of his most popular songs: "My Way," "Puppy Love," "Diana," "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," or today's "Lonely Boy." But the ANKA song that makes it into the grid most often is the jaunty "ESO Beso (That Kiss!)." Oh, okay:

Don't look now, but this Tuesday was indeed a Tuesday (IMHO). Now, granted, it only had to beat a Monday to reach Tuesday status, but lately we might have seen puzzles like this as late as Thurs or Fri!

Lots of creative arts stuff (writers, music, actor-related), which is really not a strength of mine, but the clues were pretty straightforward so I didn't need Google.

What I liked: OONA, AERO, MAINE, ENID, TOSS.

What was tough: OKAPI, ERTE, BOSC.

Funny how Paul Anka hit the news yesterday as co-writer of Michael Jackson's posthumous release This Is It. I hadn't thought of him in years, and now twice in 24 hours!

Final thought: Are hep cats hip, or are hep cats, by definition, hep? And if hep cats are hip, shouldn't they be hip cats?

Very fast solve today, yet some entertaining clues and answers, like 31D) His name wound up on a lemon (EDSEL FORD). My first thought was of a Meyer lemon but I had enough of EDSEL to get it. HIGHLIGHT REEL - I'll give a shout-out to NBA All Star Dominique Wilkins whose nickname was "The Human Highlight Reel" due to his spectacular dunks. Others I liked were J R ROWLING and NO HANDS. I thought it was somewhat odd that the clue for 47D) IRONS referred to hair rather than clothes....though I did have my wavy hair ironed in the '60's era of long, straight hair.

@PG - When I'm fishing, I really am just happy to be in our boat out on one of the lakes in the Sierras enjoying the blue skies, relaxing and watching for birds - blue herons, egrets, osprey, etc. Sure I'm glad to catch a trout or two and BBQ them for supper, but the best part is having nothing more important to do than enjoy the scenery.

@jazz - Loved your thoughts on hip/hep cats. I've always had some confusion about this ever-so-important subject as well. :)

Oh, there was a theme? I didn't even bother to look for it — did this one while rushing out the door to give an exam this morning. Clocked in at just under 3. Did not know a MOJO was an amulet — always thought of it as a more metaphorical power. Also, IRONS hair! True, but probably took ten seconds off my time, as the other five-letter Downs in that section went in boom boom, off first letter, but then I had to work crosses to see IRONS. SOBBERS is kinda :( — but otherwise, it's all perfectly adequate.

In jazz, at one time it was hip to say "hip", then unhip to say "hip" because "hep" was the word, but then "hep" became unhip, and to be hip you said "hip". This is true!

Legend says Bobby Troup changed the "hipness" from "hep" to "hip" in his song about Route 66 to make it rhyme--"Get hip, to this kindly tip, and take that California trip, get your kicks on Route 66". Harry (Hipster) Gibson wrote some funny lyrics (Wikipedia - hip) about hip and hep.

As something of a purist I must point out that no Jaguar was ever built with a badge reading "XK-E" on it. The car in question was badged as an "E Type" although American marketing material did refer to it as an XK-E on occasion.

Also, since I'm off on a pedantry jag (heh), Camelot was a city and/or castle, not a realm. King Arthur's realm was Britain.

I first heard MOJO as in mojo rising, an anagram of Jim Morison, in his LA Lady (I think), in 1968 at the Whiskey in LA. But It is probably hard to get a clip of that, but maybe available from the Doors movie.

And Austin Powers, of course, had his MOJO stolen, which I think was somewhat metaphorical.

The word itself is pretty interesting - assumed to originate with African slaves, and can be used in lots of different ways, including, notably "an amulet, often a small flannel bag containing one or more magic items, worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo".

I'm a big believer in lucky charms so now I need to find a flannel bag for them.

Never, ever mess around with Hoodoo. In 2005, timed to coincide with the US Open, American Express had a campaign based on Andy Roddick losing his Mojo. He lost in straight sets in the first round, and went into a 3 year tailspin. Way bad Hoodoo, making fun of your mojo.

John Hancock is reputed to be my great, great, great, great, great (great?) uncle. That did not come with stock options in the insurance company.

I remember my mother crying as she ironed my curly hair back in the '60's. She would say "you don't know what it's like to have pin straight hair". Anyway, it didn't work, by the time I walked down the driveway to the school bus, I'd be back to bush girl. Sigh!

"I Got my Mojo Workin'" was written in 1956 by Preston Foster, and made famous by Muddy Waters in 1957. I first heard it by Paul Butterfield on his first album (1965). Its been covered by numerous artists over the years.